Chris Coelho, Author at Journal of the American Revolution

Author: Chris Coelho

Chris Coelho is the author of The Popham Code Controversy (The Trafalgar Chronicle, New Series 5, 2020). The subject of this article is Sir Home Popham. Lord Nelson’s pre-battle signal at Trafalgar went down in history: ‘England expects that every man will do his duty.’ But the bitter fight over Nelson’s use of Popham’s flag code has been forgotten. Coelho is also the author of Pirates in Uniform: The Conspiracy to Invade Buenos Aires that Triggered a War (Amazon, 2019), about the origins of the British invasions of the Rio de la Plata, and Timothy Matlack: Scribe of the Declaration of Independence (McFarland, 2013).

Autobiography and Biography Posted on August 24, 2021August 23, 2021

Timothy Matlack, Scribe of the Declaration of Independence

The scribe of the Declaration of Independence—and perhaps the first man to read it in public—was born on March 28, 1736 in Haddonfield, New Jersey. His family moved to Philadelphia eight years later. At the age of thirteen, Timothy Matlack began an apprenticeship under a prosperous Quaker merchant named John Reynell. Looking forward to a […]

by Chris Coelho

Critical Thinking Posted on July 1, 2021June 28, 2021

The First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

“We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . .” Who were the first people to hear Thomas Jefferson’s memorable words spoken in public? And who was the first person to read them? According to our embraced heritage, the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence happened in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. […]

by Chris Coelho